Fully enclosed carton with diamond corner panels

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a fully enclosed wrap-around carton for bottles and cans that can be tightly packaged. The carton has triangular panels between the ends of the lower side panel and each lower end flap that diverge away from the bottom panel. There are a pair of triangular panels between the sloping upper side panel and each upper end flap that diverge away from the top panel. These triangular panels tighten the carton against bottles or cans packaged therein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a fully enclosed wrap-around carton forbottles and cans. It has a pair of triangular panels between the end ofthe lower side panel and each lower end flap that diverge away from thebottom panel. Similarly, there are a pair of triangular panels betweenthe sloping upper side panel and each upper end flap that diverge awayfrom the top panel. These triangular panels serve to tighten the cartonagainst the bottles or cans packaged therein.

2. Background of the invention

U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,487 to Wood discloses a tubular carton, in which thelower part of each end is closed. A fold line is provided between eachlower end panel and the side wall. A crease line is provided thatextends divergently upward from the lower corner of each side wall andeach end panel. Thus, the corner between the lower side panel and lowerend panel is formed with a triangular panel, which is intermediate tothe plane of the lower side wall and the lower end wall panel.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,598 to Stout et al. discloses a fully enclosedcarton that is similar to the Wood carton except it also has triangularpanels between the upper side wall and the upper end wall that divergesoutwardly from the top panel to the lower side wall. This structureserves to keep the bottles taut in the carton. A carton with a similarset of triangular panels is disclosed in published European PatentApplication No. 0 044 169.

It has been difficult to tighten fully enclosed wrap-around cartonsaround cans or bottles that are cylindrical in form because of thesquare corners of the carton. It would be desirable if a method could befound to tighten these cartons about the cans or bottles contained.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to find a method for tightening fullyenclosed wrap-around cartons for containing cylindrical articles such ascans and bottles.

The object of this invention has been obtained with a fully enclosedwrap-around carton that has a pair of triangular panels between thesloping upper side panel and each upper end flap. These panels divergeaway from the intersection between the top end flap, top panel andsloping upper side panel. A pair of triangular panels is providedbetween the lower side panel and each lower end flap that diverge awayfrom the intersection between the bottom panel, bottom end flap, andlower side panel. When the carton is erected and loaded with the endsbeing glued, these triangular panels fold into separate planes thatbasically bisect each corner of the carton between the lower side paneland each lower end flap. These triangular panels are wider at theintersection between the lower side panel and the sloping upper sidepanel in order to accommodate the greater girth of the bottles at theirmidsection than at the neck.

These and other objects, features, and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent upon reading the followingspecification in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a blank for forming a carton of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the carton with the end flaps open and abottle group in phantom line exploded from one end of the carton.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the finished carton with all flapsclosed and glued and with the bottles secured therein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention is intended primarily as a wrap-around carton forcarrying a plurality of bottles or cans. This carton can be formed froma single piece of foldable material, such as a blank cut out ofpaperboard. The layout of the blank is basically rectangular, whichresults in economizing the amount of paperboard used.

Referring to FIG. 1, the carton of this invention may be formed from ablank 10. The blank has an inner face (not shown) and an outer face asshown in FIG. 1., which may be coated for printing and display purposes.The carton has a bottom panel 12, which is attached to glue panel 14 byfold line 16. Bottom end flap 18 is attached to bottom panel 12 at oneend by fold line 20 and bottom end flap 22 is attached to bottom panel12 at its other end by fold line 24. The lower side panel 26 is attachedto bottom panel 12 at one side by fold line 28. Lower side panel (bottomportion) 26 is foldably attached at one end by fold line 90 totriangular panel 92, which in turn is attached by fold line 94 totriangular panel 96, which in turn is foldably attached to lower endflap 30 by fold line 98. It will be noticed that the outside of all ofthese triangular panels is formed by lines 90 and 98, which diverge awayfrom the corner formed by at the intersection of lower side panel 26,bottom panel 12 and bottom end flap 18. Lower side panel 26 is attachedat its other end to lower end flap 34 by triangular panels 102 and 106.

Sloping upper side panel (upper portion) 38 is attached to lower sidepanel 26 by fold line 36. Sloping upper side panel 38 is connected atone end by fold line 110 to triangular panel 112, which in turn isconnected by fold line 114 to triangular panel 116, which in turn isconnected by fold line 118 to upper end flap 40. Triangular panels 112and 116 diverge away from the intersection formed between sloping upperside panel 38 and top panel 50 and top end flap 62. It will be noticedthat these triangular panels diverge in the opposite direction from thetriangular panels between the lower side panel 26 and the lower endpanel 30. Upper end flap 44 is attached to sloping upper side panel 38by triangular panels 122 and 126.

Upper side panel 38 is attached to top panel 50 at one side by fold line52. Top panel 50 has two finger apertures 54 and 56 for carrying thecarton. Top panel 50 is attached at its ends to top end flaps 58 and 62by fold lines 60 and 64, respectively. Top panel 50 is attached tosloping upper side panel 66 by fold line 68. Sloping upper side panel 66is attached at its ends to upper end flaps 70 and 74 by triangularpanels 132, 136, 142 and 146, respectively. Upper side panel 66 isattached to lower side panel 78 by fold line 76. Lower side panel 78 isattached at its ends to lower end flaps 80 and 84 by triangular panels152, 156, 162 and 166, respectively.

Forming and Loading the Carton

A blank 10 can be formed into a sleeve for loading by gluing glue panel14 to lower side panel 78 at a glue area G. The blank 10 can then bemanipulated so that it forms a sleeve into which the bottles B may beslid by a packaging machine as illustrated in FIG. 2. This end of thecarton may be closed by folding lower end flaps 30 and 80, and upper endflaps 40 and 70 inward. Top end flap 62 can be folded downward andbottom end flap 18 folded upwardly and glued to lower end flaps 30 and80 and upper end flaps 40 and 70. The other end of the carton can beclosed at the same time in order to form a tight package. This resultsin the carton illustrated in FIG. 3.

Unique Features of the Carton of This Invention

The carton of this invention lends itself for packaging bottles whichhave necks that are of a smaller diameter than the body of the bottle.Preferably, the carton of this invention, in order to package suchbottles, has a top panel 50 where the distance between the ends (foldlines 60 and 64) is significantly less than the distance between theends (fold lines 20, 24) of the bottom panel 12. In addition, thedistance between the sides (fold lines 52 and 68) of the top panel 50 issignificantly less than the distance between the sides (fold lines 16and 28) of the bottom panel 12. This means that the sloping upper sidepanels 38 and 66 slope inwardly towards the top panel 50. Consequently,the bottles are packed more tightly in the carton, since the sides andends slope inwardly towards the top panel 50.

The provision of triangular corner panels between the sloping upper sidewalls and the upper end flaps and also between the lower side panels andthe lower end flaps provide greater contact with the bottle adjacent toeach corner formed. This reduces the amount of void space in thecorners, resulting in a tighter package. The triangular panels (e.g.,triangular panels 112, 116) between the sloping upper side panels andupper end flaps diverge away from the intersection of top panel, slopingupper side panel and top end flap. The triangular panels need to bewider near the fold lines 36, 76 between the lower side panel 26, 78 andthe sloping upper side panel 38, 66 in order to accommodate the greaterdiameter of the adjacent bottle at the midsection. The triangular panelscan have a much narrower width near the top panel 50 where the neck ofthe bottle is located. The triangular panels (e.g., 92, 96) between thelower side panels and the lower end flaps diverge away from theintersection of bottom panel, lower side panel and bottom end flap, sothat they meet the fold lines of triangular panels 112 and 116 betweenthe upper sloping side panel and upper end flap at or near fold line 36.While the bottom of the bottle typically has the same diameter as themidsection, the reduced width of triangular panels 92 and 96 near thebottom panel results in holding the bottom of the bottles tightly withthe bottom panel being larger than the top panel. The diamond likeconfiguration of the combination of triangles (e.g., 92, 96, 112, and116) permits the carton to be folded and closed without the bunching ofpaperboard, and ensures the tightening of the carton.

While the invention has been disclosed in its preferred forms, it willbe apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications,additions, and deletions can be made therein without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention and its equivalents as set forth inthe following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A fully enclosed wrap-around carton forcontaining a plurality of cylindrical articles comprising: (a) a bottompanel with sides and ends, which is attached at each side to a lowerside panel, which rises perpendicularly from the bottom panel and whichhas ends and an upper side which is attached to a sloping upper sidepanel with ends and a top edge which is attached to a top panel withends and sides; (b) a top end closure adjacent each end of the top panelformed by a top end flap foldably attached to an end of the top panel,an upper end flap which is foldably attached to the end of the slopingupper side panel via a pair of triangular panels that diverge away fromthe corner formed by the intersection of the top panel, sloping upperside panel, and top end flap, said flaps being secured together bysecuring means to form the closure; and (e) a bottom end closureadjacent each end of the bottom panel formed by a bottom end flapfoldably attached to an end of the bottom panel, a lower end flap, whichis foldably attached to the end of the lower side panel via a pair oftriangular panels that diverge away from the corner formed by theintersection of the bottom panel, the lower side panel and bottom endflap, said flaps being secured together by securing means to form theclosure.
 2. The carton of claim 1, wherein the securing means is glue.3. The carton of claim 1, wherein each lower end flap is foldablyattached to the adjacent upper end flap.
 4. The carton of claim 3,wherein the triangular panels connecting the upper end flap to thesloping upper side panel are foldably attached to the adjacenttriangular panels which are foldably attached between the lower sidepanel and lower end flap.
 5. The carton of claim 2, wherein the bottompanel is attached at one side to a glue panel, which is glued to a lowerside panel.
 6. The carton of claim 1, wherein the distance between theends and sides of the top panel is significantly less than the distancebetween the sides and ends of the bottom panel.
 7. A bottle cartoncomprising: (a) top, bottom and side panels, each side panel having endsand a lower portion and an inwardly inclined upper portion, said top,bottom and side panels being interconnected to form a tubular structure,said top panel having ends and being rectangular, a top end flapfoldably joined to each end of said top panel; (b) said bottom panelhaving ends and being rectangular with a significantly larger dimensionthan said top panel, with end flaps being foldably joined to each end ofeach portion of each side panel, with a pair of triangular corner panelsbetween each end flap and side panel with said triangular corner panelsadjacent the upper portion of the side panel diverging away from the toppanel and said triangular panel adjacent the bottom portion divergingaway from the bottom panel so as to grip the bottles in a taut fashion;and (c) a bottom end panel attached to each end of the bottom panel andsecured in overlapping relationship to the end flaps attached to thelower portion of the side panel, and said top end panel being secured inan overlapping relationship to the end flaps attached to the upperportion of the side panel.
 8. The carton of claim 7, wherein thesecuring means is glue.